


.nine

by dotdotmoon



Series: one. two. three [9]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Agender Character, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angels, Other, Pre-Relationship, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24359410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotdotmoon/pseuds/dotdotmoon
Summary: Jongdae wants to raid an abandoned castle with Kyungsoo.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongdae | Chen
Series: one. two. three [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642660
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	.nine

**Author's Note:**

> i used [this generator](http://www.generatorland.com/usergenerator.aspx?id=24904) and it gave me "recovering witch of the forest who longs to explore old castles with a shy thousand-eyed angel". apparently i have to turn everything into fic...
> 
> extended content notes:  
> \- food mention

"We're going inside?" Kyungsoo asks when Jongdae squats to examine the door lock.

"What did you expect," Jongdae says as Kyungsoo watches him pushing a strand of magic into the keyhole. It wiggles around inside, then stills when Jongdae pulls at it gently. "Can you work with this?"

It takes Kyungsoo so little to turn the key made of Jongdae's magic into iron, it doesn't feel more strenuous than a blink. They can't dodge the kiss Jongdae presses to their cheek in thanks—and find they didn't need to; all their eyes closed in time.

Jongdae gives them a look, then pushes the key into the lock and turns it slowly. "You're so used to me, I don't even startle your eyes anymore," he says, more pleased with himself than Kyungsoo would have guessed Jongdae could ever be when they first met.

The heavy wooden door swings open, reveals a low ceiling, a set of rugged stone steps leading into the dark.

"Ah, the joys of being a servant," Jongdae says as he peeks into the darkness. He picks up the skateboard he's propped up against the castle wall earlier, lets the fairy lights draped on the underside of it flicker back on. "Better."

"But your leg," Kyungsoo protests.

"Look," Jongdae says, lifts his shirt and points to the clunky yellow thing on his belt. "This is a step counter. I used up 104 to get out of bed and onto the skateboard. Yixing said I should be okay if I don't go past 7000 steps per day. We'll turn back at 3000 in, okay?"

Mathematics is a concept that flies right by Kyungsoo's wing tips, but it sounds genuine, unlike last time when Jongdae tried and succeeded in making them add even more butter to their hotteok dough. They sigh, place their hand into Jongdae's when he offers his.

"You can close your eyes now. Wouldn't want to scare off anyone. Or anything."

"Are you going to be okay?" Kyungsoo asks. Jongdae asked them not to use their precognition, and they feel . . . untethered, oddly thrilled. Darkness doesn't frighten them, neither does the unknown, but humans and their strange abodes are an entirely different story.

"I used magic before I met you, you know," Jongdae tells them and tightens the grip on their hand.

"You flunked out of witch school."

"I dropped out. Because they were witch supremacists," Jongdae says. "And it was an all-girls school. They let me attend after I came out but not Junmi. —Junmi, who was a girl? The administration let me attend after I told them they were mistaken about me and that I was a boy? A not-girl?" Jongdae adds when Kyungsoo looks at him, confused.

Kyungsoo appreciates Jongdae's patience. They still have a hard time grasping the concept of gender, even more so the fake binary most of humanity seems to have settled on. "You dropped out because they accepted boys like you going to their all-girls school but not girls like Junmi?" they try to sum it up. Jongdae smiles at them, and his face goes all soft and warm.

"Do I close all of my eyes?" they ask, shutting Jongdae out of their sight. How a single witch could make them this flustered is a question only their heart knows the answer to, and now is not the time to dwell on that.

"Keep two or three of them open. Aim for the ones on your face this time, yeah?"

Kyungsoo still struggles with limiting their view like this. It took a few severe eye inflammations on their legs and feet mainly caused by dust, dogs and further inconveniences for them to understand, and always wear clothes charmed by Jongdae that cover their entire body. The fairy lights flicker again when they close all but a few of their eyes, then they dim a little, illuminating just enough of the steps for neither of them to trip.

"Ready to steal some kitchenware?"

**Author's Note:**

> idk why i have a trans man jongdae agenda but apparently i do?  
> the clunky yellow thing jongdae uses as a step counter is a pokemon pikachu. i still have mine ;;
> 
> ty for reading, please do tell me if you liked this weird little thing!
> 
> \--i recently changed my username!! used to be fakeclover, now dotdotmoon.--
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/dotdotmoon) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/dotdotmoon) | [listography](https://listography.com/dotdotmoon)


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